Book review: Generosity
(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-29 09:52
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By Richard Powers, published by A Frances Coady Book/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
For the past 20 years or so, Richard Powers seems to have been engaged in a prodigious attempt to redress the imbalance of knowledge that was the subject of C.P. Snow's famous "Two Cultures" lecture. That, you will recall, was the one in which Snow, a British scientist and novelist, bemoaned the breakdown of communication between the sciences and the humanities. Unlike most of his novelistic peers, Powers speaks fluent science and technology.
As a longtime reader of the mostly rapturous reviews of his novels, written by humanists who seemed deeply intimidated by his mastery of arcane branches of scientific knowledge, I managed - until recently - to avoid cracking any of them. As it turns out, his new novel, Generosity, is an excellent introduction to Powers' work, a lighter, leaner treatment of his favorite themes and techniques.
